Eight-time AFL grand final umpire Shaun Ryan is concerned that opposition players may feel emboldened to tackle Collingwood goalsneak Jack Ginnivan dangerously in the knowledge they may not be penalised.
Ginnivan has been a lightning rod for attention this year due to his uncanny ability to draw free kicks for being taken too high.
However, umpires have wised up to the tactic, and in the last month or so, Ginnivan has had numerous claims for being tackled too high turned down, with the officiating umpire deeming him to have caused the high contact himself whether by dropping his knees, shrugging or lifting his arm.
It prompted the AFL to send out a reminder last week about what constitutes a too-high free kick, and what doesnโt.
The unintended consequence of that is that a can of worms has been opened, as evidenced by the most publicised example on Sunday when Essendonโs Mason Redman all but put Ginnivan in a headlock - but was still not penalised.
โThe fear is that if thereโs a tendency to call 'play on' in situations where perhaps both players contributed to the high tackle, then it might encourage tackling players to show less of a duty of care,โ Ryan told Zero Hanger.
But Ryan, who officiated in 349 AFL games across 15 seasons, conceded there was a chance umpires treated players such as Ginnivan differently based on past experiences.
โThe reality is that it may be that if thereโs players that have had a number of instances in the past where they have got a free kick - and it was an unwarranted free kick - then they (umpires) may have umpired that scenario previously so there might be an unconscious element to that,โ Ryan said.
โYouโd like to think theyโre umpiring every contest as it unfolds, but you canโt account for the unconscious aspect of it.โ
Ryan also said that it was only natural for umpires to overreact to a new rule or interpretation by implementing it more often initially after it gets introduced.
However, he was adamant that umpiresโ jobs would be easier if changes to the rules didnโt occur so often.
โIn any role in any walk of life if thereโs no change and thereโs that constant consistent approach itโs a lot easier,โ he said.
โThe reality is that by reason of research and events that occur in games and all those types of things, the AFL feel a need to make changes to ensure the safety of the players but also the spectacle for the fans.
โThere also needs to be consideration that the more rule changes that you implement, thereโs always an effect with respect to those rule changes and the effect is, from an umpiring point of view, that you now need to adjudicate on yet another rule and these rules are all subject to interpretation, theyโre never black and white.
โAnd so, it just throws in another layer every time that thereโs a rule change. Even if rule changes are designed to make things black and white, they never do and never can because nothing is in our game.โ
Compounding things is that Ryan also believes a โfundamental problemโ with the wording of the new too-high interpretation is causing confusion with regard to its implementation.
The rule has attracted much controversy and attention this year, thanks largely to Ginnivan, and to a lesser extent Western Bulldogs forward, Cody Weightman.
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Last weekโs AFL statement read: โWhere the tackle is reasonably applied, there is no prior opportunity and the ball carrier is responsible for the high contact via a shrug, drop or arm lift โ play on should be called.
"Where the tackle is reasonably applied, and there is prior opportunity, and the ball carrier is responsible for the high contact via a shrug, drop or arm lift โ holding the ball should be called.โ
But Ryan, who was not only one of the best ever to blow a whistle at the top level before his retirement in 2020, but is also a barrister by trade, believes thatโs where the heart of the problem lies.
โWhat I see the fundamental problem at the moment perhaps with this rule is that the language of it seems to be that if the player with the ball is responsible for the high tackle, then itโs 'play on,'โ Ryan said.
โNow, what does the word โresponsibleโ mean?
โI hear two things said in relation to that word โresponsibleโ, and theyโre used always interchangeably, and thatโs by AFL players, coaches (and) media, sometimes theyโll say, โDid the player cause the high tackle?โ or โDid the player contribute to the high tackle?โ
โNow, theyโre vastly different things, and what I mean by that is this: if the player with the ball was the sole cause of the high tackle, then, yeah, there should be a (holding the ball) free kick for that because the only reason why the tackle went high was because of the action of the player with the ball in that he ducked or he dropped at the knees or the tackle was a legal tackle but he used the arm to push the tackle high. So, the player with the ball caused it.
โBut what you hear regularly is the player contributed to the tackle. Now, thatโs a different kettle of fish. Did he contribute to it by one percent? Five percent? Ten percent?โ
The Redman-Ginnivan incident left AFL legend Leigh Matthews feeling โsickโ and โdisturbedโ, and Ryan agreed that Ginnivan should have been awarded a free kick because even though he may have contributed slightly to the tackle being high, Redmanโs tackle was always going to be above the shoulders.
โSo did the Collingwood player contribute to it (going) high? He probably did. Did he cause the high tackle? Well, I think it was always going to be high. Now, thatโs where I think there needs to be clarity,โ Ryan said.
โI think, in my humble view, the rule needs to be adjudicated along the lines of if the player with the ball caused the high tackle, the legal test of negligence is: but for that playerโs action, would the high tackle have occurred? So, the tackle wouldโve been legal but for that playerโs action.
โNow if you say, โYeah, it wouldโve been a legal tackle but for what that player didโ, then itโs 'play on,' but if you form the conclusion that even though that player has contributed to it being high, the tackler still caused or contributed to the high tackle, then we need to protect the ball player in that circumstance.
โThese ones that are high tackles, a swinging arm or those types of things, but the player with the ball is still doing something thatโs mildly contributing to it, thereโs confusion around whether that ought to be 'play on' or ought to be a high tackle.โ
Ryan had sympathy for current umpires who have been put in an โincredibly difficult positionโ as they have to weigh up many real-time factors in a fraction of a second before deciding whether to pay a free kick or call play to continue.
โThe competing considerations are: we need to protect the player who is brave enough to get the ball first; we need to encourage that player to not do things that would put himself in a situation of danger; but we also need to encourage proper tackling technique, so that the player who is tackling has a duty of care to the player with the ball,โ Ryan said.
โIf youโre erring on a side, then you need to err on protecting the ball player, unless that ball player was the sole cause of the high tackle, so it seems to me the word โresponsibleโ is a little murky.โ